Golf is a game in which obtaining exercise is one of many goals, but in which its practitioners generally like to avoid discomfort. As golf can be practiced by people of many ages and physical conditions, it is important that carrying the golf clubs around the course not be perceived as burdensome. In an effort to make carrying the bag of golf clubs as easy as possible, many types of straps have been produced to improve the comfort of the user. The first types of straps used were generally single straps that extended from the bottom or foot of the golf bag to somewhere around the top of the bag. This was of course an improvement over carrying the bag by hand, and left the user's hands free.
The dual or double strap system has several advantages over the single strap because the weight is divided between the two straps, thus causing less stress on each of the shoulders. Several U.S. patents have been involved with this dual strap concept. Among them are U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,038,984, 5,042,703 and 5,042,704 to Izzo, U.S. Pat. No. 5,348,205 to Steurer and U.S. Pat. No. 5,636,778 to Jones. (X strap by Reimers) Each of these makes an attempt to improve the balance and/or weight distribution of the golf bag to improve the user of the user who is carrying the bag. Crucial considerations in the balance of the bag are the placement of the strap mounting points.
The stability of the bag as the user walks about is also of concern. A bag that bounces or swings excessively is undesirable, as this type of motion can be very tiring, as well as possibly annoying. Users of prior golf bags often are seen holding the ends of the bag to minimize motion. This of course defeats the objective of allowing the user to have his hands free while the straps carry the bag. One cause of this swinging motion and accompanying fatigue is the misalignment of the center of gravity of the bag compared to the center of gravity of the user. This is illustrated in FIG. 2 (prior art) and is partially caused by the positioning of the attachment points of the straps on the bag. This misplacement of the center of gravity of the bag could be corrected by using a longer bag, but this would increase weight and “swallow” clubs with short handles instead of leaving both short and long clubs visible.
Golfers routinely mount and dismount their golf bags from their backs in order to access their clubs. As the bag is slung across their backs in a generally horizontal orientation, it is the common practice for the golfers to reach around behind themselves to grasp whatever portion of the bag is reachable by their hands to swing the bag into an upright position while they shrug their way out of the straps. Bags are generally set up so that the opening at the bag's top is located on the right hand side of a right-handed user, so that the right hand may reach back and grasp a portion of the bag. This is usually done by using the “goose neck grip”, as it has been called, to insert the user's fingers into the bag opening and then pinch with the thumb to grasp the upper portion of the golf bag. This grip is shown in FIG. 3 (prior art), and involves an awkward and potentially painful contortion where the user must pull his elbow as far as possible behind him, arch his wrist to a nearly painful degree, and then attempt to grasp the bag's opening and support it, which may weigh as much as 35 lbs when loaded, in this goose neck grip, while struggling out of the straps.
Additionally, the goose neck grip requires that the user insert their fingers into the upper compartment of the bag when grasping it, which may be difficult if this compartment is already filled with clubs. In this case, the user may have to grab the straps for guidance, turning the dismounting process into a two-handed operation, with additional contortions. This is even more awkward in cases where the bag has a built-in stand which the user must activate, as the user may then have to temporarily stand the bag vertically, re-grip it and then tilt it and push downward to activate the stand.
Thus there is a need for a golf bag which is more stable, involving very little swing or bounce, which distributes the weight of the bag on the shoulders well and has improved balance. There is also a need for a golf bag which is easier to mount and dismount than those currently in use.